Mapping of acid deposition effects and calculation of corrosion costs on zinc in China

Corrosion damage to materials including objects of cultural heritage due to acid deposition has been shown to cause large costs in several studies in Europe and in the United States. So far no similar extensive studies have b een performed in developing countries. The World Bank has therefore initiat ed and financed a study of the corrosion costs in China based on available data in the literature and obtained through contacts and visits to several institutes and organisations in China. An initial assessment of the corrosi on costs in China due to acidifying pollutants has been performed using a m odel originally developed and applied in Europe, which has been adapted to conditions in China. Here, the model is described using zinc as an example. In the calculation of corrosion costs it is assumed that the stock of mate rials at risk can be allocated to census data, which enables a separate cal culation of the cost for each province in China. The significant difference s in corrosion attack is illustrated for zinc with a corrosion map of China based on environmental data and a dose-response function adapted for Chine se conditions including the dry and wet acid deposition effects as separate terms.